I know that the title of this article sounds obvious, but there were rumours yesterday that Arsenal's Spanish midfielder Santi Cazorla could be one of the first targets for the new manager at Manchester City, assuming that the rumours are true and it is going to be Manuel Pellegrini from Malaga.
Pellegrini clearly did not want to sell Cazorla to Arsenal last summer, but the financial starits that Malaga were in left him no choice.
Santi Cazorla fits into the Arsenal way of playing like a hand in a glove, and has become a vital and integral part of the Gunners. The Spaniard has played in every single Premier league game this season, starting all but one of them. He also started all the Champions league games except the final one where Arsene Wenger rested a lot of players.
I've always felt that Quentin Tarantino doesn't so much make great films as make great scenes. The kind that get the heart pumping; saturated as they are with wit and drama. Large parts of his movies are actually plodding pastiche padded out with some swears and a bit of the old ultra-violence. But with the rising inflection of Samuel L.
Quite the transfer market for our gunners huh!? Obviously by now we are all well aware of our
latest signing, Santi Cazorla from Malaga. To be perfectly honest, even though I had only heard of
the guy in passing prior to the rumor mill starting to turn, this most recent signing is the one
that excites me the most.
It's official. Santiago Cazorla González, best known to his mates as Santi Cazorla, is now an
Arsenal player. The ambidextrous 27-year-old midfielder has been capped 45 times for his country,
and that's no mean feat when your national side, Spain, is the reigning European and world
champion.
The CF Malaga man is finally a Gunner. And he's losing no time talking about his ambitions to
see Arsenal end a long drought without silverware. Cazorla seems to have come to the Emirates with
the right attitude. His statement should earn many more fans.
"There's a very good squad here and we want to fight for titles and win titles.
The ironic aviator sunglasses. The sincere prescription Buddy Holly bifocals. The skinny, tight
jeans. The scarves. The thrift store t-shirts. The rent checks from trust funds and/or parents. The
flippant remarks that reveal angst at their inevitable return to tax haven exurbs to reproduce
within a decade.
City managed to rain on Bayern's parade by beating them 2-0 but it was not enough as Napoli
turned on the screws against Villareal to run out 2-0 victors. Bayern and Napoli go through to the
Champions League knock out stage.
It's no idle conjecture imagining Napoli going far into the CL maybe even to the finals.
Opening Ceremony: Three of our boys facing us in the foreground.
The Giants Smash the Minnows 3/27/13
Day 1 of the MIC allowed for the Giants of the soccer world, Manchester United, FC Barcelona, Ajax and Villareal, to showcase their class against local inferior teams.
Lightning Strikes Twice in the space place in 3 days. This had Madridisimo collectively
groaning: "Oh Shit - Not Again!" .
Just a week after we started to fancy our Champions League odds by drawing APOEL Nicosia last
Friday while enjoying our 10 point lead in La Liga, we have all of a sudden decided to expose our
soft underbelly.
Sorry guys, Â I was out last night & could not post the Ajax 0 - Real Madrid 3 + Villareal 0 -
Napoles 2 Champions League summary. However found these diagrams of all the Champions League Clubs
that go onto the next phase, with the two SPANISH FOOTBALL representatives FC BARCELONA & REAL
MADRID. Below are the Clubs that finished first of their Group with those in second place.
Having won a hard fought match on Sunday against FC Dallas and with another big match against
the Vancouver Whitecaps looming on Saturday, Los Angeles Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena sent out the
reserves for Wednesday's CONCACAF Champions League matchup against the Puerto Rico Islanders.
The move paid off, as goals from four different players enabled the Galaxy to collect three
points in its final home match of the competition and thus sit in first place in the group courtesy
of a 4-0 win over the Islanders at the Home Depot Center.
It was a vintage 2011 performance by the Los Angeles Galaxy Sunday against FC Dallas.
The Galaxy backline was the catalyst Sunday in its important MLS matchup against Dallas, making
life tough for the visiting side while waiting for scoring chances that eventually came in the
second half courtesy of Juninho and Todd Dunivant, which paved the way for a 2-0 win over FC Dallas
at the Home Depot Center.
LA Galaxy's new teenage sensation Jose Villareal scores his first ever MLS goal to make it 2-2
against the Whitecaps last night, having only made his debut last week replacing Robbie Keane a few
days after turning eighteen.
Any hopes of Diego Forlan coming to MLS in the near future have been dashed.
The Golden Ball winner at the 2010 World Cup has signed with Brazilian club Internacional, the
team announced. The deal will keep the 33-year-old Uruguay veteran with the club through July
2015.
The striker had played with Inter Milan since transferring from Atletico Madrid in 2011.
In less than a week, Europe's top international squads will compete for the European
Championship, a tournament that gives anyone in play the most random opportunity to win. Squads
full of top class players from around the continent will have finished up their club seasons, and
because everyone just spent a huge amount of time killing themselves to win UFEA or league titles,
almost every squad will have some players tuckered out and nursing some sort of an injury.
...make it O Classico, "arguably the most important match in Portuguese football,"Â kicking off
later today at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (aka the Estádio da Luz):
SL Benfica vs. FC Porto, 3:15pmET (available via ESPN3.com in the US)
Not only is it a classic and heated Portugese rivalry, the two clubs are currently battling it
out at the top of the Primeira Liga table even on points with identical records, with Porto ahead
on goal differential.
With the completion of the last of Group matches yesterday, we now clearly know the clubs which
will go to the next stage of 2011-2012 Champions League Tournament. Bayern Munich, Napoli, Inter
Milan, CSKA Moscow, Benfica, FC Basel, Real Madrid, Lyon, Chelsea bayer Leverkusen, Arsenal,
Marseille, Apoel Nicosia, Zenit St Petersburg, Barcelona and AC Milan are the ones qualified for
the knock out stage of 2011-12 Champions League.
Manchester City captain and defender Vincent Kompany insists that the Premier League leaders are
ready for Bayern Munich. The German giants can end the Citizens' Champions League hopes with any
result at the Etihad Stadium tomorrow, but Kompany remains confident.
"Any team coming here is not going to be favorite, I don't care who they are," said the Belgian
defender.
Cala il sipario sul calcio spagnolo. Anche la Liga, ieri sera, al termine di un'emozionante 38/a e
ultima giornata, ha emesso i verdetti finali per quest'annata. Oltre al Real già campione, e che
chiude con 100 punti totali e ben 32 vittorie all'attivo, e al Barcellona, secondo a 91, in
Champions ci vanno anche ValenciaContinua a leggere .
La storia si ripete, anche se in formula diversa. Il trionfo della penisola iberica, con tre
portoghesi (Benfica, Braga e Porto) e una spagnola (Villareal) nelle semifinali dell'Europa League
2010-2011 si ripete quest'anno, ma con tre spagnole (Athletic Bilbao, Atletico Madrid e Valencia) e
una portoghese (Sporting) che approdano al penultimo atto della vecchia CoppaContinua a leggere .
Complimenti Napoli, auguri più sinceri per essere entrata tra le prime sedici d'Europa. Quale che
sia il risultato di questo cammino, potrai raccontare alle generazioni future che nel 2011 in
Champions hai giocato con coraggio e con passione, senza nessun timore referenziale, senza alcuna
barricata, mostrando calcio ed il coraggio di giocarvi a viso aperto.
Dopo le emozioni di ieri sera, si chiude il 2011 della Champions e la fase a gironi. E' la serata
di Villareal-Napoli, la nottata attesa da tutti i tifosi partenopei, i 90 minuti che potrebbero
regalare, al team di Walter Mazzarri, il gioioso passaggio del turno e quindi la qualificazione
agli ottavi di finale.
Il campionato a volte può essere un utile serbatoio per mettere il pieno di benzina ed andare
tranquilli e senza patemi in quell'autostrada Champions che porta in Spagna, a Villareal, allo
stadio Madrigal, dove martedì, Cavani e soci si giocheranno uno storico approdo tra le prime
sedici d'Europa. La squadra apprezzata sabato sera, nella sfidaContinua a leggere .
SPANISH FOOTBALL continued this Sunday with four matches scheduled as part of Round 26 of the
Spanish League. Here is a brief summary of the events, along with the final results from each game
& the respective scorers. Real Zaragoza stay alive in La Liga VILLAREAL lost away 2 - 1Â to last
placed REAL ZARAGOZA which has decided that they will not go down into the 2º Division without
fighting to
Six games of the SPANISH LEAGUE today/tonight as part of Round 25 which kicked off yesterday with
four games already played. Instense SPANISH FOOTBALL action with all the final results & scorers
below. Villareal - At.Bilbao Midday clash between the improving VILLAREAL & ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO
which finished in a 2 - 2 draw.
Despite the nonsense about some other matchup in the Copa del Rey right now can't quite remember
the names of those rather insignificant teams at the moment the real story is not east, not west,
but down. Way down in the third division. Mirandes, a humble little club in the north of Spain,
knocked off their third yes, third La Liga opponent to get to the Copa del Rey.
Last game tonight of Round 1 of the SPANISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE with the following result & scorers.
Both VILLAREAL & REAL SPORTING DE GIJON needed the points to keep contemplating  surviving this
season  at the top level. However, only one got away with the objetive as Villareal won 3 - 0
Gijon. The goal scorers were MARCOS RUBEN in the 56th min, BORJA VALERO in the 58th min & BRUNO in
the 90th
SPANISH FOOTBALL today-tonight with the remaining five matches of Round 19 ( the season half-way
mark) of the SPANISH LEAGUE. Here are all the final results & the scorers. Falcao. Atletico de
Madrid ATLETICO DE MADRID finally managed to get back on the winning path with a 3 - 0 victory over
VILLAREAL at home.
Jose Enrique spent four good seasons at Newcastle United, after he was signed for £6.2M from
Villareal in the summer of 2007. Jose Enrique Liverpool left back Sam Allardyce was the manager at
the time, but of course he lasted only six months and was gone in early January of 2008, to be
replaced by Kevin Keegan, [.
Jose Enrique spent four good seasons at Newcastle United, after he was signed for £6.2M from
Villareal in the summer of 2007. Jose Enrique Liverpool left back Sam Allardyce was the manager at
the time, but of course he lasted only six months and was gone in early January of 2008, to be
replaced by Kevin Keegan, [.
Liverpool left-back Jose Enrique has been an unqualified success at Anfield, and is arguably Kenny
Dalglish's most consistent signing. He learned his trade under Manuel Pellegrini at Villareal, and
Enrique has nothing but good things to say about his time at the club. In a recent interview with
LFC Magazine, Enrique spoke about two players of his former Villareal team-mates who were big
Liverpool left-back Jose Enrique has been an unqualified success at Anfield, and is arguably Kenny
Dalglish's most consistent signing. He learned his trade under Manuel Pellegrini at Villareal, and
Enrique has nothing but good things to say about his time at the club. In a recent interview with
LFC Magazine, Enrique spoke about two players of his former Villareal team-mates who were big
An Henry wonder-goal here, a Villareal late-winner there, and twenty or so other great strikes (including former Austin Aztex Dillion Powers for Colorado Rapids) from week five of Major League Soccer.
Whoa. I forgot we were still involved in the CL for a second. More, after the jump:
The Shove Heard Round Naples
Get this: Napoli's manager, Walter Mazzarri, has been banned by UEFA for two matches after
shoving Nilmar during Napoli's final group stage match with Villareal.
Reports have been coming through today that a permanent deal for Giovani dos Santos could be
tied up before the weekend. There has been much speculation about Gio's future since the transfer
window opened and according to Villareal's vice-president Jose Manuel Llaneza, Gio's White Hart
Lane misery could soon be at and end.
According to some reports in England and Europe, Patricio Rodriguez has attracted much interest
from clubs including Manchester United, Villareal and AC Milan. Currently, the Argentinean
attacking...
